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Special congratulations to Chris Hewett for completing his PADI MSDT Internship.

Chris says “I have really enjoyed team teaching with a variety of instructors. Seeing different styles was really interesting and they all gave me feedback so I could learn and grow in confidence. The superb facilities at Calypso also make teaching so much easier. The Instructor Specialties with Course Director Rene were certainly a highlight: he chose some great dives and made the training fun with a relaxed yet thorough attitude”

MSDT Internships are available at Calypso for PADI Instructors wishing to gain experience. The program includes continuing professional education courses (Instructor Specialties) and team-teaching with experienced PADI Pros.

The Calypso and Pinjalo travel team have just returned from Hong Kong, where we exhibited in collaboration with the Philippines Department of Tourism (DOT) at the International Travel Expo (ITE). Around 80,000 visitors came to see the travel and activity offerings from 56 countries and regions.

As part of the celebration of World Oceans Day, Calypso Diving are launching our shark protection donations program. From 8th June 2011 we will be making a donation to Project AWARE for shark protection activities for each and every ocean dive that our guests do throughout the year! We will keep you updated about progress towards the target. Here’s a quick Q&A about shark protection:

Why are divers so interested in sharks?Many divers get a great rush and a sense of awe from observing and photographing shark species in their diverse habitats. Divers want to spend time with these fascinating marine predators that have existed for more than 400 million years. Unfortunately, many shark species are threatened with extinction.

What is causing the decline in shark populations?Scientists have reported that most of the great shark species have declined by 60-99 percent of their original abundance. The cause is basically that sharks are being killed faster than they can reproduce. Up to 73 million sharks are killed every year for their fins alone.

Why protect sharks?
Why should we care about sharks becoming extinct? Sharks are actually an essential component of marine ecosystems and their removal has devastating consequences. When sharks are eliminated the ecosystem becomes unbalanced, with far-reaching effects on the ocean and people. We must take immediate and widespread action to conserve shark populations.

What Can Marine Enthusiasts Do?
1) DON’T BUY IT: Refuse to purchase shark products and byproducts.
2) SAY SOMETHING: Speak out against and don’t patronize restaurants and stores serving shark fins.
3) GET INVOLVED: Support conservation groups and look out for diver surveys used for research.

The Calypso Diving team and our guests have been giving Calypso Reef some TLC today with an underwater clean-up dive. The team of 10 dived a 100 meter stretch of reef and collected around 60kg of trash, mainly beverage bottles, cans and plastic food wrappers. We sorted and counted the items collected and reported the data to Project AWARE for their research. Removing debris from the water is just one part of our preparations for World Oceans Day, 8th June 2011. Find out more tomorrow!

Congratulations to our candidates for completing their EFRI and IDC instructor-level training programs. We welcome new Instructors to the PADI teaching family! Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks: